Linguistic Evidence
Cassava has widely been accepted to have origin in the Eastern Peru and West central Brazil.
Figure Brown and his colleagues, to determine when and where manioc became important to several prehistoric Native American groups, performed Paleobiolinguistic (Brown 2013). Several major proto-languages were complied for two major regions in Central America and South America. The manioc–term was examined for each proto-language and dates were determined with through computational approach on the subject similarities of the languages. The geographic locations for the proto-languages was determined through and algorithm. Brown and his colleagues concluded that manioc was distributed through the New World from its Southwestern Amazon origin (Brown 2013).
Botanical Evidence
Cassava has widely been considered to be the least understood of all the major tropical crops (Allem 1994). 1n 1982, a growth of wild Manihot was observed in the Brazilian state of Goiás, which closely resembled M. esculenta in morphology and led to the conclusion that cassava grew in the wild (Hillo...
The Canela People are native to Brazil, populating the zone in-between the Amazon basin and the Northeast (“Brazil’s Canela Indian Festivals” 1). Their diet has evolved greatly over time as they came into contact with the outside world. Historically, they were more of a food foraging people than horticulturalists, meaning they mostly scavenged wild plants, roots, nuts and eggs, fished, and practiced limited hunting of tapir, deer, emu, boar, paca, cutia, and fox. Up until the 19th century, the Canela relied only 20% on horticulture (“Canela” 1). In their limited practice the Canela grew manioc, maize beans, squash, peanuts and sweet potatoes (“Canela” 1). The Canela’s hunting and food foraging ways shifted around 1814 when they first made contact with the Europeans. The Canela and Europeans conflicted over several issues. Primarily, the two groups clashed over cattle. The European’s cattle lured the Canela; they often raided plantations and killed cattle in large numbers. The Canela were eventually resettled onto merely five percent of their previous land and thus forced to change their subsistence patterns (Crocker "Journal of the Society" 33). With less land, they did not have the same access to recourses for foraging. Instead, they adopted the slash- and-burn Brazilian farming techniques. Additionally, the Europeans influenced the Canela’s subsistence by teaching them to cultivate watermelons, sugar cane, rice and bananas; with the capability to grow more crops, the Canela shifted away from food foraging and towards horticulture. The Canela have since been relocated several times to different reservations.
Tuncer, B. and P. Schroeder. 2007. Chapter 8 Sambazon - marketing the acai berry: sustaintable agro-forestry in the Brazilian Amazon. Paper read at SCP casis in the field of Food, Mobilitiy and Housing, at Paris, France.
A fruit’s heat and lineage are very dependent on growing conditions it is in. Soil, rainfall, and climate are factors that would have the potential to alter a plant. The author questions rather the Naga King Chili would be hotter if it were grown in an area with different growing conditions. Even in regions just next to Nagaland, it is possib...
Salsa comes from the South American region, mainly from the Spanish speaking countries(“History of Salsa Sauce”). Salsa is a well known dish that is made in many ways. In the original times, it was made with a coalescence of chilies, tomatoes, and other spices. The original way of making salsa has been altered since the beginning. It originated back in the times of the Aztec, Mayan, and Inca civilizations(“History Of Salsa Food”). According to “History of Salsa Sauce”, The origin of salsa came from the South American region, mainly from the Spanish speaking countries (Lifestylelounge,lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/history-of-salsa-food). The Spanish people found tomatoes and they added the ingredient into the recipe.
Though, the origin of the cacao bean is indefinite, the first instant that Europeans encountered cacao beans is alleged to have been in 1502 between Christopher Columbus and the ancient Mayan civilization. Initial impressions were less than satisfactory. Christopher Columbus having believed the beans were “shriveled almonds” (Rosenblum 6), . During Hernan Cortez’s voyage to the Aztec Empire of the Americas during 1517, he was introduced to the Emperor Montezuma’s favorite drink “chocolatl”. Though, he also was not very appreciative of the drink, Cortez was fascinated with the very idea that cacao beans were used as a form of currency among the Aztec. The Spanish would pay Aztec laborers in cacao beans, as they would load their treasure ships with deposits of silver and gold. For this reason, the Spanish nicknamed the cacao bean “black gold” (Lopez 19). Still, it was Spanish monks and missionaries who recognized the value of cacao beans as a medial t...
Robbins Burling, David F. Armstrong, Ben G. Blount, Catherine A. Callaghan, Mary Lecron Foster, Barbara J. King, Sue Taylor Parker, Osamu Sakura, William C. Stokoe, Ron Wallace, Joel Wallman, A. Whiten, Sherman Wilcox and Thomas Wynn. Current Anthropology, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Feb., 1993), pp. 25-53
Before there was a United States of America, there were tribes of Native Americans living off the land. In the southeastern part of the country, the largest group of Native Americans were the Cherokee people (Boulware, 2009). Cherokees are networked through vast kinship lines that separates them from other tribes in the region (Boulware, 2009). They once occupied a territory that ran throughout the Appalachian Mountains (Boulware, 2009). Cherokees spoke a common language known as Iroquoian, different from the surrounding tribes (Boulware, 2009).
The most important idea in Allen J. Christenson's Popol Vuh is maize or often known as corn but to the Maya culture, corn has a bigger significance than just food. Corn has played a important role in empires, civilizations and people for thousands of years. The Maya have a lot of admiration to corn as a cornerstone of their culture and spirituality. Maize was so highly admired that the Mayans had a Maize God. Corn was a gift from the Gods and cultivating it and planting it was a sacred duty it was a really important process in which corn was to be planted and harvested. Temples were built for Maize Gods and corn was used to nourish workers and kings. To the Mayans, the Gods made humankind out of maize. The Maya also considered this crop to be the vegetation of life in order to eat and grow. This symbolized the fragile nature of corn, a crop that depends entirely on human cultivation for its reproduction with such deep meaning and that has deep culture and meaning.
Carmack, Robert, Janine Grasco, and Gary Gossen. The Legacy of Mesoamerica: History and Culture of a Native American Civilization. New York: Prentice Hall, 1996.
The key influence of the coca market comes from the Andean countries of South America: Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. These countries are responsible for almost exclusively cultivating the coca plant, but Colombia is the main processing nation of the plant into cocaine, at nearly 70 percent (Stares, 2).
Cumbia serves as a unifier of Mexican people, especially families, and serves as a sociocultural outlet for celebration and upholds cultural traditions. A main theme of Mexican culture is togetherness of the family, and many celebrations create a community and place for family involvement. Celebrating together creates and maintains bonds and is an outlet for expression sharing commonalities such as cultural thoughts and ideas. Solidifying a connection in the community with people that listen to cumbia strengthens the culture and forms unity. Mexican cumbia is a significant aspect of Mexican identity and produces a gateway environment for embracing heritage and reflects a highly family and community oriented culture.
...South America and became important export crops in West Africa in the 20th century. While little information was provided on our specific topic, this source was useful for the information of the Columbian Exchange.
Conversion of the tropical forest into cropland and pasture began a long time ago in Ecuador, before their secession from Spain. Their major crop was cocoa, which was grown along the waterways to be exported out as their main source of trade. Due to the fact that after World War II expansion accelerated throughout the northwestern section of the forest, a highway system was put into construction. At this point in time, the Ecuadorian Amazon consisted of a few small towns that had been established in valleys and at the base of the mountains. Indigenous g...
Fossil records are unable to provide information of on the center of origins of the cacao tree. The cacao tree is in the Sterculiaceae family. The first growers of the cacao pods were probably the people who entered the lowland rain forests of the Amazon Basin between 10,000 and 200 B.P. The full name of the cacao tree is Theobroma cacao. Most of the information of the cacao have been derived from the cultivated crop. The life and reproduction life cycle of Theobroma cacao is identical to a tropical rain forest tree species. Cacao grows optimally in minimal moisture and shade. Cacao is dispersed in small, medium and large areas. This is probably the result of animal dropping the seeds after eating the tasty inside of the pods. Cacao pods are very diverse in morphology. These morphological difference suggests genetic differentiation.
Cacao which is known as the cocoa bean, comes from the cacao tree or “Theobroma cacao.” Theobroma is a Greek word which translates to “food of the Gods.” The tree is an evergreen which can be found in over 50 tropical countries, and is estimated to be grown by around 2.5 million producers. Around 90 percent of the producers are